Looking at social media? Then start with an internal media conference

By guest blogger Michelle Ryan

Recently my colleague, Carden Calder - BlueChip Communication founder and social media aficionado - posted a blog about social learning. It looked at the benefits of sharing knowledge and experiences in and out of social media, with a special focus on financial services firms.

Rather than give you the complete low-down on the post, you can read it for yourself here, but I did want to expand on one of the points it contained.

Top ways to kick off social learning...

In her blog, Carden listed three key suggestions to help financial service firms, that want to give social learning a try, get started. 

One of those suggestions was to hold an internal social media conference.

What is that, you ask? Allow me to explain ... in 140 characters or less. No, kidding, I will need a few more words than that, but here is a brief outline.

Get started on social learning by running your own internal social media conference...

An internal social media conference involves presenting relevant information about social media, stimulating ideas and inspiration among staff members. It's a safe, fun, social media training ground, that ideally should work as a springboard for lively discussion. It's also a great opportunity for staff to get their hands dirty and have a 'play' with various social media platforms before they launch into the 'real' virtual world on your company's behalf.

Five steps to hosting an internal social media conference

1. Decide on the topic and develop some guidelines for content
• Be very specific about topics you want covered. Choose, say, a social media channel, concept or service.
• Choose a topic that is directly relevant to your staff and your social media goals - if you're not going to use Facebook, don't go there, but if you are launching a Twitter handle at a conference, you need to get your staff across the who, what, when, why and how of this before you launch it.
• Invite staff to send questions ahead of time so speakers can tailor their presentations or run Q&A sessions if appropriate.
2. Find an external speaker and brief them
• A quick search online for social media buzz words will show you a number of people who purport to be, or in fact are, experts in social and digital communication. Ask around, check references and other bona fides to be sure you get the real deal.
• Use your conference topics as starting points in your search and look for an external speaker with direct capabilities or experience in this area.
3. Get staff involved and have them present
• Yes, engage the speaker, but don't overlook the capabilities of your own staff.
• Do you have someone already on staff who can share their knowledge and experience? If so, do what you can to encourage peer-to-peer, or social learning - for example, appoint that person as a champion or ambassador of your social media campaign. This is a great way to fast track results and keep the all-important conversation alive in the office once the internal conference has finished!
4. Review
• Ask your staff and any external speakers to rate the conference so you can improve or build on its lessons. A quick Survey Monkey questionnaire (incentivised if you are serious about getting a response) will allow you to get this information quickly and easily.
5. And rebook
• Once you have the feedback - use it! Book in another session (perhaps aim for one a quarter) to discuss a different topic and to hear from different 'experts'. With social and digital media changing constantly, you'd be unwise to believe you have heard or learnt it all before.

Michelle Ryan is an Account Manager for BlueChip Communication

The gloomy boom: a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A guest blog by BlueChipper Aideen McDonald

We continue to read in the media and hear from the banks that Australians are saving more than ever. This is a good thing, right? Apparently not, especially if you are an Australian business owner. Whilst we are all too aware of the effects over investing can have on the economy (think asset price bubble…and burst), the outcome of under investing has not been discussed so much.

BlueChip sponsored a CEDA event in Sydney today about Australian business credit – are we prepared for the cost of under investment?

Chairing the event, Carden, MD of BlueChip, cited businesses firing, rather than hiring; businesses saving rather than spending and paying down debt rather than borrowing…all leading to historic low levels of business credit.

The first of the two panellists, Joseph Healy, Group Executive Business Banking with NAB believes it comes down to the current market confidence (or lack thereof) businesses and business owners have in the Australian economy. Or, for short, so-called ‘animal spirits’, that perhaps have business owners more spooked than they need to be.

Healy acknowledged that whilst the Australian system has issues, it is a remarkably resilient, fundamentally strong economy.  A context that makes for golden opportunity – at least if you’re a business owner who is realistic about risk in the current environment, and confident when facing the challenges. Otherwise, he suggested a lack of business investment would lead to longer term problems like a weakened economy, higher levels of unemployment and a cycle that repeats itself.

Panellist, the Hon Patricia Forsythe, Executive Director at the Sydney Business Chamber, addressed the current accessibility of lending to businesses, highlighting that levels of lending collapsed during the GFC and have remained weakened ever since. Citing Sydney Business Chamber research, Forsythe suggested lowered access to business loans has stunted the growth of business investment.

Forsythe believes current government has a central role in supporting businesses during a time of low confidence and weakened lending levels, suggesting a review of the political scene in Australia to de-risk the system and highlight specific sectors that are in need of investment support.

Both panellists agreed Australian businesses need to focus on digital opportunities. BlueChip has advised clients on the social media and digital space over the past few years and is increasingly helping purely online businesses with both traditional and online PR & communication. Referring to Sydney as the key digital hub for Australia, Forsythe encouraged all businesses to embrace the movement into the digital space.

Healy cited an example BlueChip mentioned in a previous edition of PRognosis of Kodak: the demise of a leading brand in the world of technology due to their inability to adapt to a changing and growing world.

The bottom line is this: business owners and business people in Australia should take heart from positive economic signals. But while we all hang back on the edge of the pool, borrowings will stay low – and the overall economy, our customers and our people stand to lose.

If we get carried away by gloom rather than looking, carefully, for boom opportunities we actually risk creating a self-fulfilling (and negative) prophesy.  

Informed leadership will win out for those brave enough to dive in rather than spectate. 

The event was hosted by Angus Armour, MD and CEO of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation and member of the CEDA  NSW State Advisory Council   

Make your long term (PR) relationship work: top 3 tips

I was talking to a much-loved female relative last night about her upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. That conversation, and others in the last few weeks with the C-suite executives in our client organisations, have caused me to reflect on the nature of success in long-term client partnerships - why it works or fail, and specifically, how we and our clients behave to achieve great PR results.

We've been fortunate to enjoy long-term relationships with several highly valued clients. Each of these relationships has seen ups and downs. Each has experienced highs of sensational results, intimate client relationships. Each has seen times when we thought it might not be forever. And yet, more than five years later, here we still are. Together. Happy. And still working at it.

Similar, albeit a tenth of the time-span, to my dear female relative and her husband. Yes, the punch-line is about the similarity between long term relationships in our personal and business lives.

Here are our team's top three observations about what makes a long term relationship work with your PR firm.

1. Shared committment
We're in this together, through thick and through thin, to achieve something wonderful neither of us can do solo.


Sound like a modern day marriage vow? Not really, it's more like a mission statement for a client relationship. Here's what that looks like in terms of behaviour...


- Have a clear, agreed picture of success
- Keep an eye on whether, as a team, we are achieving a consistently high level of success
- Hold each other accountable to achieving what we regard as success
- If so, persist to overcome issues when (as they will) they arise


At work , as at home, we've all found that if we and our client do not have a clear and shared picture of success, the relationship doesn't travel so well. We pull in different directions, and do not agree on something very fundamental - are we winning or losing here? Are we, for example, jointly shooting the lights out or are we burning budget for no great outcome? Overall, there's the good old "gut feel" barometer to tell is how we're doing. Beyond that, and essential to success, are metrics - observable and ideally independent data - that give an objective read on the success of the relationship. And of course, there will be times when we either don't agree, or something goes wrong. Because all humans are both uniquely wonderful, and fallible. As and when we make mistakes (minor ones we consultants hope) or our client does, it's important to fix it and move on. This of course is only possible if we are consistently good at what we do, professional and pleasant to deal with.


2. The kind truth
Frankly we do give a damn. Enough to tell you when it's...well...NOT working. 

Patrick Lencioni's observations about "naked" consulting, include this idea: tell the kind truth. In his book Getting Naked,  Lencioni talks about the kind truth that our clients need to hear, but perhaps don't want to...or perhaps it's that we consultants don't want to call it out for fear of damaging the relationship - and losing the revenue! And perhaps there are things we have to hear as consultants to help us continuously improve. Hearing even the "kind truth" can be painful. Growth, as professional services expert Michael Kean says, is painful.

Sometimes as consultants (actually often!) we need to hear things that we don't want to - about our behaviour, skills or delivery. BlueChip aims to ask for this feedback...unafraid of the answers we need to hear in order to keep improving what we do for clients. Is it scary? Yes. Do we always hear good news? Not always. Is that helpful to our growth personally and professionally? Absolutely.

But the rub is this: we need permission to give feedback also. A wonderful client recently asked us this:

"What can we do better as your client? Is there feedback you need to give us?"

And you know, there are things our clients can do better on occasion. It's our role to ask if they want to hear it, and to kindly share what we see as the "truth" of our relationship. Such caring frankness builds trust, respect and the preconditions for success...as it does in friendships and other relationships. Uncomfortable to start with, but more rewarding long term.

3. Keeping it fresh
One downside to long term relationships can be simply the "sameness" that comes with working with the same team, on the same issues...day in and day...out for years. 


An issue in relationships as in long term client engagements! So, to deal with the easy bit first, what do we do to keep it fresh?


Keep it interesting: we bring new insights, experiences and approaches to the relationship; and ask our client to do the same. 
We ask ourselves "would this article I found interesting be useful to my client?" or perhaps "this piece of market intelligence is helpful to our shared goal - let's share it". We actively seek out insights, experiences and approaches that help us "keep it fresh" in our long term relationships.


Does that mean change for changes sake? No. It means preserving the innately valuable aspects of what we do, but always questioning where we can change for the better. Holding tight to approaches that reflect our values and help clients build their reputation...and selectively, often in consultation with clients, continually upgrading the service approach.

Of our clients we ask "what's happening in your business? what are the major challenges or opportunities". Now often, the answer is unchanging. But sometimes something fundamental has changed. And that change, we need to know about.

Invest: in the relationship and the future
Good friends, our loved ones, and really good consultants, give a little...and when you really need it, they give a lot. And you trust them enough to ask for the help you need, when you most need it. Sometimes the investment isn't ever paid for - it's just about helping when it's most needed.


Ask: are the goalposts still the right ones?
Sometimes the goal posts need to change. As the environment changes we reset (if it's needed) the strategy - lock, stock and barrel or perhaps more appropriately goals, strategies and tactics. It's great to meet the goals of the program, but not so great if the goals are the wrong ones because they're not reviewed properly or often enough.

My 50 years married relative would probably suggest another key attribute of her, and our long term relationships. Tolerance. Sometimes we really do get on each others nerves. Let's face it, we spend plenty of time together...at some point I'm going to irritate you...and at some point I'll possibly find you challenging.

And at those times? We're both well served to practice tolerance. At work as well as at home!

Strengths - and why they matter in your communication

Fresh from a recent Strengths workshop with Marcus Buckingham I'm looking at the world slightly differently.

Marcus Buckingham's book "Go put your strengths to work" and one of his recent Sydney seminars was all about how playing to our strengths at work makes us happier and more productive.

And who among us doesn't want that??

This evening I tore the little cards out of the back of Buckingham's book, and started to obediently document when I'd recently "felt strong" (at home, kneading bread...at work, meeting an interesting CEO for the first time) and "felt weak" (at home, washing up...at work, in a very routine meeting).

The exercise bears a startling resemblance to the planning methodology we use with clients.

Invariably we look for both organisational strengths and weaknesses. Strategies, messaging and actions plans are most usually based around the company's areas of relative advantage - in Buckinham's world that equates to strengths.

Risk management, and what we might call "preventative" messaging or actions, come from real or potential areas of weakness.

How much time do we focus on strengths versus weaknesses in a client's PR program? About 90% on strengths and about 10% on weaknesses - unless we're engaged on issues or crisis management.

While there are no little coloured cards we fill out for a client, we usually do overtly partner with clients via a planning process or during an engagement to uncover, articulate and promote areas of relative strength - often these are sources of sustainable competitive advantage as well as key levers in a communication program.

Other times the organisational strengths we uncover with clients might be defined entirely by current news or a particular context. For example in internal communication a strength that you want to dial up may well be defined by the culture or current internal climate, as well as the relative allure of other employers and status of the job market.

Buckingham's work makes a strong case for organising our jobs, no matter at what level, around our strengths, rather than around minimising our weaknesses.

I'd suggest, very simply, the same works in public relations. If firms have their value proposition right (for clients, employees or investors) then communicationg strengths allows stakeholders to find themselves a good match - the service or product provider, employer or investment that best meets their particular needs. The organisation that gives them something they need, and value.

Just as playing to our strengths, and helping others play to theirs, enables diverse work mates to co-exist. When we get it right, as teams or service providers, there's a nice symbiosis between one person's weaknesses and the next's strengths.
 
With that in mind I'm going to check on the bread...I "felt strong" kneading the dough but it might take a better baker than I am to achieve a good loaf.

To skip from the personal to the professional, and in particular the practice of public relations, good communication helps us find that work team, client or service provider who "completes" us.

Fear versus cautious confidence - how context changes everything

As 2010 proceeds at a cracker pace it's interesting to reflect on the difference a year makes. The context (although not all the content) is completely different.

In financial services public relations, marketing and communication the game has changed - along with the context.

Last year the context was fear. This year it's cautious confidence. One can be paralysing, the other galvanising.

As professional communicators we hold true that "context" is everything

The same statement can mean opposite things depending purely on context. Context (in our world) includes how the audiences is thinking & feeling and what they already believe. It includes, in financial services, what markets and economies are doing, and what we hear respected colleagues say about their business and their expectations for the future.

Last year the context was like a dark blanket thrown over us all - with a few weak pinpricks of light shining through.

Late in 2008 and throughout 2009 I talked with many of you about fear.

Even naming it felt brave.

We all felt it, but (almost to a person) no one wanted to say it out loud. And yet when we finally talked about it, senior executives were palpably relieved that the real context had been named...and we could get on with business...with the emotion out of the way.

Once named, fear lost some of its power

Once explored, we could use our understanding of that context to work out how to communicate properly -to industry colleagues, consumers, media, government and our own people.

The context (in this case a strong shared emotion) was only a problem when it wasn't acknowledged and planned for.

This year's context is completely different
Fear is taking a back seat to cautious confidence. To generalise about what we've seen in 2010 (okay it won't reflect everyone's experience!) in financial services communication:

1. Decisions are being made - both off the back of a long process (delayed from 2009)
2. Aggressive growth plans in are play again - supported by a greater focus on acquisitory (as opposed to retention) marketing
3. Money is moving in retail and wholesale (and the moves have to be explained)
4. Retention is still a focus - although on an industry basis the quality of client communication is highly variable
5. Internal communication is rising in importance - to help keep valued people and to ensure they know how (and want to) execute on strategy.

Markets are up, bonuses may be back and portfolios look vastly improved.

Cautious confidence

Cautious confidence seems the right description for what we seeing though retail investor research and hearing in institutional funds management. It also describes the vibe we hear from consumer financial companies through to industry participants dealing only with others in financial services.

And fear?

As for fear, well it's not left us completely. It's just sitting in the back seat.

With cautious confidence as the context, our messages, tone of voice and methods of public relations and communication have subtly changed.

Action

The bias to act (rather than hold on) is back.

Communication is now less reactive to world economic events and more proactive.

Forwards, with purpose. But ever so carefully.

10 steps to take your financial services pr & marcomms communication online

This morning my colleague Paul Cheal and I presented a seminar about how Australian financial services marketers still have a window of opportunity to achieve “first mover advantage through online PR”.

This afternoon we also published an eBook focusing on the most practical take-away from that seminar - the ten simple steps to take your pr and marketing communication online.

Yes, it’s a new era of consumer sovereignty (post-Ripoll, post-GFC & mid-online PR (r)evolution).

Yes, transparency in retail and institutional markets is, or will be, greater than ever before

And choice of information channels & sales channels will proliferate…

At the same time the rise and rise of social media means choice of marketing tools can be overwhelming.

Where to start?

By taking the same principles we learned in traditional PR, communication and marketing online – and playing by the new rules of the social media world.

The sweet spot for financial services is online PR.

By online PR we mean:

-          1. Quality and quantity content that earns you search engine superiority and viewer attention

-          2. Communication direct to clients in both institutional and retail markets

-          3. All linked back to an effective website AND

-          4. Engaging your audiences with the next “P” in financial services marketing – philosophy.

Because in the new digital democracy it will be what you stand for, what you do and how interesting you can make it, that earns you the attention of the people who matter most to your business.

So what are YOU going to do to tell your business’s story more effectively online?

Download BlueChip Communication's ten steps to online PR for financial services here.

Minister Chris Bowen: ASFA Day 3

Day Three of ASFA in Melbourne ended on a self-congratulatory note, with Minister Chris Bowen concurring with earlier speakers that we do in fact have a great national savings system, and delegates rating the conference a success.

In closing the 2009 ASFA conference, Chris Bowen, Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, outlined his four tests for the outcome of the various reviews that are to affect the national savings system: simplicity, efficiency, equity and adequacy.

A system that is easier to understand will help ensure Australians are more engaged with their super says Bowen. Great technology will reduce costs and improve returns, with the Medicare clearing house described as a “modest first step towards a more efficient, less paper-based system”.
The Cooper review will look at reducing fees and increasing long term returns, said Bowen, citing Treasury figures that estimate a one per cent difference in fees can translate to 16 per cent less at retirement in a members’ account.
Side stepping whether or not nine per cent is adequate, the Minster linked adequacy (the minimum objective) and equity, suggesting that the greatest challenge is to design a system with genuine incentives for low and middle income earners, signalling greater concessions for this group.

“The global financial crisis has put super through the wringer. It’s battered returns and shaken the confidence of those who are about to retire or have already retired.”
Against that backdrop, Bowen says his job “is partly to explain to Australians the importance of super” for individuals and to the economy generally.
Bowen addressed audience questions focused on adequacy, the Henry Review and some particularly pointed questions about legislative changes to super.
“Adequacy isn’t enough”
“Henry Review recommendations won’t be implemented immediately – most will be the subject of a national discussion.”
In addressing continual government changes to super, Bowen suggested “the reviews are an opportunity to have more certainty in super”, but only once the various recommendations from current processes are implemented. In other words, more change now against the promise of longer term stability.
I attended ASFA on behalf of BlueChip Communication. Bruce Madden will also be attending next week’s FPA Conference in Melbourne.

Will Cooper reshape the world of super as we know it? ASFA Day 2

Jeremy Cooper may not be planning wholesale changes to our super system. On the other hand, his comments in an ASFA plenary session suggest he's certainly not entirely buying the industry line that "it ain't broke so don't fix it".

In a wide ranging speech, Jeremy Cooper outlined the potential governance issues facing the industry in 2025, including the potential for a group of four "super" super funds to dominate the landscape, providing direct private equity sources of funding and wielding far greater leverage in their investment decisions. Cooper drew a parallel with Canadian behemoth funds Ontario Teachers and the Canada Pension Fund.

In this brave new world, the superannuation industry "dog" would no longer be wagged by the funds management tail. Cooper shared a possible view that super the system, if re-designed around members' interests, may look significantly different to the possibly funds management-centric structure of the industry today.

He asked if perhaps superannuation trustees are captive to their service providers, and suggested that without greater scale our funds are at a significant disadvantage in bidding for access to global assets.

In a message that made trustees happy, although perhaps didn't deliver joy to fund managers, Cooper suggested "Super funds have to start acting like they are at the top of the food chain", using their power to benefit members.

Other advantages of scale? Lower fees, in-house investment expertise, improved diversification, lower admin costs per unit and better member education.

Financial literacy - are we there yet? ASFA Day 2

If financial literacy is "the ability to make informed judgments and effective decision regarding the use and management of money" then 46 per cent of Australians are functionally illiterate and 53 per cent are functionally innumerate, according to Russell's Linda Elkins.

On a panel with Vanguard's Jeremy Duffield and Paul Henderson from The Smith Family, Linda Elkins told ASFA delegates how one in two Australians do not have the skills they need to make informed choices in their interactions with the financial service sector.

Part of the solution is education and access to low-cost, effective, advice.

The Smith Family is doing their bit for national education, with a Financial Literacy Certificate that helps disadvantaged people increase their financial literacy and improve their money management skills.

What can we all do? Paul Henderson suggested delegates should make sure they are aware of the scale of disadvantage, raise the issue inside their own organisations and volunteer to run a financial literacy training course.

Long time BlueChip client Jeremy Duffield asked the audience what their post-GFC learnings were about member communication. The answers were clear: understand and segment the audiences, make information highly relevant, use plain English, and create simple materials speaking at the right level.

And "stop sending regulatory-driven reams of material people don't understand."
Also in the member engagement stream, Andrew Inwood (Brand Management) & James Coyle (Australian Super) made a case for member communication.
Key themes in their presentations included the opportunity to communicate more effectively to members whose attention may have turned to their super thanks to the GFC, the importance of brands - as yet underdeveloped in superannuation - to member engagement, the need to educate members and the rise of social media as a way to talk and engage effectively.
Will this lead to an "uncontrolled debate" online between funds and their members? Not yet, but certainly with members now arguably more interested in their super, there's never been a better time to achieve greater engagement online.

Have we reached peak Super? ASFA Day 2

Ross Greenwood coined the term "peak super" in opening Day Two of the ASFA conference in Melbourne today. The questions he threw as challenges to the panel and the audience included:

"What happens when the money going out (how everyone in the room currently gets paid) is greater than the money coming in?" and "Do we really have a world class retirement savings and income system?"

The short answers from a panel of industry leaders were "no, we haven't reached peak super" and "we can always improve, but yes, we think it is a world class system both for retirement savings and incomes".

Panel members Steve Bracks (United Super / CBUS), Sue Dahn (ESSSuper and AGEST), Michael Dwyer (FSS) and Nicolette Rubinsztein (CFS) also addressed the previous day's comments by Dr David Morgan in relation to superannuation industry reform, the Henry Report and the balance between retail bank deposits and savings inside super.

Panel comments:
On the banks versus super
"Ken Henry is more focused on bank funding than super adequacy."

"Morgan said 'I'm from the bank and I'm here to help you'. You have to worry when the bankers start to offer us with the super system. A trillion dollars attracts a lot of attention."

Is our super system world class?
"The Deloitte fee study & other research about performance relative to other nation's pension funds gives evidence for (the case our system is) world class."

"The Mercer study said we have the best super system bar the Dutch - measured in terms of adequacy, integrity & sustainability."

"Can we do it better? Yes, but the Auspoll research shows 80 per cent of Australians are confident in their super - you don't want to change that."

"We've had the biggest shock to the system in GFC and yet members stayed put."


On media coverage of super
"The super system has had a 'going over' by the media. The easiest point to describe the GFC was to focus on people's retirement investments - media could relate the GFC to the public and bring it back to them. Despite the enormous amount of negative media that started with the GFC, you can see with the Auspoll results that people are still behind and supporting the super system. I defy you to find a piece of public policy with that kind of support in any country."


On legislative risk to super
"Too frequently we've seen super be a political football and source of votes with popular measures put through."

"Political changes have impacted confidence - we know people are not putting any more money in because you keep changing the rules."

And finally, this comment: "The same amount of thought went into the recent budget changes to super that went into the changes to the employee share scheme changes" to spontaneous applause from an audience not given to overreaction.

Trustees urged to look longer term than the nation's leaders - ASFA Day 1 closing

In closing the day's proceedings, Dr Keith Suter countenanced three scenarios for the future world order - "business as usual", "break-up", "break-down" or "breakthrough".

In the "breakthrough" scenario, Australia is poised to make the most of a world in which both the economy and how we manage scarce resources are reinvented - to see the globe become both economically and environmentally more sustainable.

Speaking directly to those in the industry, Dr Suter argued that politicians in power, subject to the very short-term and immediate pressures of the 24/7 media cycle and electoral expediency, are unlikely to bring about longer term solutions or responses to these scenarios.  With politicians focused on the short-term issues that dominate the news cycle, at the expense of future-defining issues, then other decision makers must pay more attention to the less urgent but more important "bigger" issues.

The most dominant of these bigger issues is the start, for good or ill, of a new global economic era.

Against this dramatic backdrop, Dr Suter urged fund trustees to take the longer term, and arguably braver, view.  To look beyond existing paradigms to see what is, and what may be, and to plan for a number of very different scenarios.  

While the future may not be certain, the obligations of those in the industry are - to safeguard the long-term wealth of Australians.

Carden Calder is attending ASFA 2009 for BlueChip Communication Group. BlueChip is Australia’s leading financial services communication firm. We help “tell your story” through media, online pr, compelling content and other forms of communication - so the people who matter most want to do business with you.

Member research - Super? What super? ASFA Day 1

On an individual member level, ASFA research conducted by Auspoll shows what superannuation members really think about it all. And the short answer is they don't really think.

At least they don't think much about their super.

When asked which superannuation issues caught their attention recently, the largest portion of respondents (47 per cent) could not think of any - and answered "none".  Only some (29 per cent) offered losses or a decrease in the value of their investment, and a very small number (6 per cent) suggested fees.

Have people changed their investment options in response to market movements?  Most (87 per cent) have not.

Which are the two most widely-held funds?  Australian Super and AMP, by a considerable margin.

In terms of split between industry and retail, the survey found some 48 per cent were in industry funds, 29 per cent in retail and a far smaller proportion (3 per cent in each) were invested in a corporate or self-managed fund.

It seems members, in the wake of one of the worst years on record for returns, are largely satisfied (79 per cent of respondent) with their super funds - consistent with past findings.

Interestingly, those in the public sector and industry funds show far stronger satisfaction ratings than retail fund members.

Of the small number not happy, why is that?  Most said it was about performance and / or fees. 

For those who are happy with their fund, it's down to low or reasonable fees, performance and communication.

And finally, what do members looks for in a fund?  Performance, reasonable fees, safety or security, and consistency and stability.

Dr David Morgan & Dr Keith Suter - ASFA Conference Day 1

Global Financial Crisis, and the rise of China and India, were the twin themes that dominated the first day of ASFA's annual conference in Melbourne today.

Dr David Morgan, former Westpac CEO provided his perspective on these key issues in the opening plenary, and Dr Keith Suter, social and political commentator and Sunrise regular, closed with them this afternoon.

The common threads? That while the GFC may be over, the aftershocks will be felt for a long time. As we congratulate ourselves on how Australia has escaped the worst of the GFC, a new era is upon us.

BlueChip Communication MD Carden Calder is attending ASFA.